The Man Who [20th Anniversary Edition]

Travis: Fran Healy, Dougie, Andy, Neil.
Additional personnel includes: Sarah Wilson (cello).
Engineers include: Gerard Navarro.
THE MAN WHO was an astonishingly successful and critically praised follow-up to Travis's inconspicuous 1997 debut, GOOD FEELING. Amidst the upbeat but uninspired post-Britpop guitar scene, the Glaswegian four-piece refined the tender moments from the group's first album to produce a work of unexpected subtlety and confidence. The stunning first single and opening track "Writing to Reach You" sets the mood. The song evokes the fragility and lyrical ache of Radiohead's "High and Dry" and name-checks Oasis's "Wonderwall."
From the claustrophobic "The Fear" to the mocking self-pity of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" to the somnolent "As You Are" and the mellow resignation of "Driftwood," Fran Healy and company wrest a range of emotions from the simplest of acoustic arrangements. Only the solitary stray into bombast of "Turn" disappoints, but it still serves to demonstrate how far the group has progressed.